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Daily Sports Digest: Rockland Country Club Wins Environmental Award

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The Top Spot:

The Metropolitan Golf Association Foundation presented Rockland Country Club in Sparkill, N.Y., with the sixth annual Arthur P. Weber MGA Club Environmental Leaders in Golf Award. The award was given at the 2012 MGA/USGA Green Chairman Education Series and Award Luncheon on Thursday, March 15, at Alpine Country Club in Demarest, N.J. This award recognizes an MGA member club that has demonstrated environmental stewardship through golf course maintenance, construction, education and research.

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It was presented by Ken Benoit, superintendent at GlenArbor Golf Club in Bedford Hills, N.Y., and chairman of the Arthur P. Weber MGA Club Environmental Leaders in Golf committee.  Accepting the award for Rockland Country Club were two members of the club’s Greens Committee, Doug Mattliano and immediate past chairman Tom Torpey. Both men spoke about the extraordinary efforts of Rockland Country Club head grounds superintendent Matt Ceplo.

“Matt is so passionate about the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program and also about not using too much water,” said Torpey. “We’ve transformed about 20 acres of property into native plant areas, and we’re not using pesticides or water in those areas any longer,” he added. “In addition, we’ve put up some bluebird houses, and Matt organizes an annual bird watching event where people come and observe 40 to 50 species of birds.”  

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Torpey also commented on how the club has become more involved with the surrounding community.

“We invite the Biology department from St. Thomas Aquinas College, which is just up the road, to come and take water samples and use them in their classrooms. We also invite local Girl Scout and Cub Scout groups to come and catch butterflies and learn about our wildflowers, which is great.  “To be at the Green Chairman event and to hear the prominent members on this selection committee was so impressive,” added Torpey. “We feel this award is a great honor for Matt and for Rockland Country Club.”

The award is named in honor of past MGA President Arthur P. Weber, who died in 2008. Weber wrote an Environmental Code of Conduct for golf course maintenance at his home club, Old Westbury on Long Island, nearly two decades ago that many Met Area clubs still use as a model.


College Sports Notebook:

Local Rivals to Face Off in Double Header

The St. Thomas Aquinas women’s softball team, coming off twin losses to St. Anselm College of Manchester, NH, look to bounce back on Thursday when the Lady Spartans entertain local rival Nyack College for a twin-bill starting at 3 p.m.

The Lady Spartans could not hold off the visiting Hawks (6-10) in the first game falling 5-3, and then lost 11-2, in five innings in Game 2.

Sophomore Katie Meyers of Pearl River went 4-for-5 on the day, including a three-run homer in the opener.

Meyers’ blast opened a 3-0 lead in the first inning, but the Hawks chipped away, took the lead with a run in the fifth, and tagged junior Maura Power of Pearl River with the loss.

The Hawks took a 2-0 lead in the second game, but STAC responded in the second inning, with Heather Clausen of Verplanck leading off with a single, followed by a double from Meyers, and both scored as Megan Sweezy of East Islip singled.

St. Anselm added a run in the third, and pulled away with a six-run fourth inning, handing Sweezy the loss.

Other members of the STAC team include Colleen Pagnani of Blauvelt, Melissa Place of Garnerville, Lauren Navarro of New City, and Samantha Wangenstein of Pearl River.

Meanwhile in Orangetown, Nyack lost a pair of 1-0 heartbreakers to Holy Family at the Little League complex.

Sophomore Kia Jelly of Deerfield, MA, took the loss in the opener, allowing only five hits and striking out five.

In the second game, Nyack got another brilliant pitching performance from freshman Chelsea Macaluso of Charlotte, NC. Macaluso scattered five hits, and struck out five.

Sophomore Bethany Reed of Tiverton, RI, went 2 for 2 in the second game.

 

Mortarboard Musings

  • Junior infielder Amanda Babcock of Haverstraw went 0 for 1, but worked out three walks as the Manhattan College softball team bowed to Monmouth, 7-6, in the consolation game of the Seton Hall Strike Out Cancer Tournament at Ivy Hill Park in South Orange, NJ. The Hawks (7-6) won with a run in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Jaspers (1-14) visit St. John’s (7-15) for a non-conference doubleheader today at 2:30 p.m.
  • The Manhattan College men’s basketball team had its landmark season come to a close in a 69-57 loss at Fairfield in the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Junior guard George Beamon of Roslyn led Manhattan (21-13) in scoring for the 26th time this season with 16 points. The Jaspers, behind the leadership of first-year head coach Steve Masiello of White Plains, exceeded all expectations with the program enjoying the biggest turnaround in NCAA Division I with a 15-win improvement from last season. Senior guard Liam McCabe-Moran of New Rochelle played in 34 games. The Rye High graduate averaged five points and two rebounds per game, and also had 22 steals in his final season.
  • Senior Pat Kivlehan of West Nyack, bouncing back from a flu-ridden slow start, has lifted his average to a second-best .341 for the Rutgers University (8-9) baseball team, which host Riders today at 3 p.m. in its home opener at Bainton Field in Piscataway, NJ. Kivlehan, who had a big role on the Scarlet Knights football team on special-teams and as a linebacker, has taken his speed and quickness to the diamond, with six stolen bases in as many attempts.
  • The Monroe College men’s basketball team survived a ferocious 40-minute full-court press to defeat Indian Hills (IA) 81-69 in the first-round of the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in Hutchinson, KS. Monroe sophomore guard Davon Marshall of Niagara Falls netted 34 points, more than any other Mustang has scored this season in a game. The third-ranked Mustangs face top-ranked South Plains (TX) in the second round tonight at 7 p.m. EDT.

 

Weekly Sports Poll:

This week, the Daily Sports Digest Weekly Poll looks at the New York Knicks and the . Tell us if you would like to see John Calipari, Phil Jackson, Jerry Sloan, Mike Woodson or someone else on the bench next year and feel free to add your comments to an already lively debate.

 

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